Lockheed Martin’s [LMT] F-35 Joint Strike Fighter test program is ahead of its 2012 flight test plan, the company said.
The System Development and Demonstration (SDD) program completed 373 flights through April 30, against a plan of 281, according to a company statement. The 2012 flight test plan calls for 1,001 in the calendar year, it added.
The SDD program also completed 123 test flights totaling 223 flight hours in March, setting a record for the most SDD flights and flight hours in a single month. Thirty local area orientation flights, totaling 39.5 flight test hours, were completed at Eglin AFB, Fla., as progress towards F-35 pilot training checkout continues, the statement added.
More than 90 percent of the latest version of the F-35’s mission system software, Block 2A, is complete with more than 85 percent of it currently being flight or lab tested, the company said. Block 2A is scheduled for “ready for training” in the summer of 2013. Block 2A flight tests are being conducted at Edwards AFB, Calif.
“From flight envelope expansion, to night refueling, to external weapons testing, our flight test program is off to a good start this year,” Orlando Carvalho, Lockheed Martin’s F-35 executive vice president and general manager, said.